Topic: What and Why of Computer Adaptive Testing

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   What and Why of Computer Adaptive Testing

    When an examinee is administered a test via the computer, the computer can update the estimate of the examinee's ability after each item and then that ability estimate can be used in the selection of subsequent items. With the right item bank and a high examinee ability variance, CAT can be much more efficient than a traditional paper-and-pencil test.

    Paper-and-pencil tests are typically "fixed-item" tests in which the examinees answer the same questions within a given test booklet. Since everyone takes every item, all examinees are administered a items that are either very easy or very difficult for them. These easy and hard items are like adding constants to someone's score. They provide relatively little information about the examinee's ability level. Consequently, large numbers of items and examinees are needed to obtain a modest degree of precision.

    With computer adaptive tests, the examinee's ability level relative to a norm group can be iteratively estimated during the testing process and items can be selected based on the current ability estimate. Examinees can be given the items that maximize the information (within constraints) about their ability levels from the item responses. Thus, examinees will receive few items that are very easy or very hard for them. This tailored item selection can result in reduced standard errors and greater precision with only a handful of properly selected items.

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tanushree Senior Member Joined: 04Apr2007 Online Status: Offline Posts: 2160	Topic: What and Why of Computer Adaptive Testing Posted: 22Oct2007 at 4:06am
	What and Why of Computer Adaptive Testing When an examinee is administered a test via the computer, the computer can update the estimate of the examinee's ability after each item and then that ability estimate can be used in the selection of subsequent items. With the right item bank and a high examinee ability variance, CAT can be much more efficient than a traditional paper-and-pencil test. Paper-and-pencil tests are typically "fixed-item" tests in which the examinees answer the same questions within a given test booklet. Since everyone takes every item, all examinees are administered a items that are either very easy or very difficult for them. These easy and hard items are like adding constants to someone's score. They provide relatively little information about the examinee's ability level. Consequently, large numbers of items and examinees are needed to obtain a modest degree of precision. With computer adaptive tests, the examinee's ability level relative to a norm group can be iteratively estimated during the testing process and items can be selected based on the current ability estimate. Examinees can be given the items that maximize the information (within constraints) about their ability levels from the item responses. Thus, examinees will receive few items that are very easy or very hard for them. This tailored item selection can result in reduced standard errors and greater precision with only a handful of properly selected items. Post Resume: Click here to Upload your Resume & Apply for Jobs

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